Have you ever heard the story of Cliff Young, the 61-year-old Australian farmer who won a 5-day ultra-marathon? If you haven’t, you should look him up. His story is nothing short of astounding and it may be just what you need to help motivate you this year.
In 1983, Cliff collected his racing number for the race from Syndey to Melbourne, wearing overalls and work boots. He’d never entered this particular race before and he hadn’t specifically trained for it like everyone else around him had, but he was certain he could win it—even if he was the only one who believed he could.
When the starting gun went off, the professional runners raced ahead. Cliff took off at a shuffle. When the professional runners stopped for the night after 18 hours of running, Cliff kept going. For five days.
As he ran, Cliff pictured his childhood during the Great Depression. One of his tasks growing up was rounding up 2,000 sheep spread out over 2,000 acres whenever a big storm was about to hit. His family didn’t have tractors or horses, so he had to find the sheep and drive the flock home on foot, sometimes taking 2 to 3 sleepless days to do so.
Cliff went from the guy everyone mocked to the man everyone cheered as he “shuffled” across the finish line in first place and well ahead of the rest of the runners, forever changing how people would tackle the 544-mile Sydney-Melbourne event. The kicker? He didn’t know there was a prize at the end. Instead of keeping the prize money, he gifted it to some of the other racers who came in behind him about 10 hours later.
I first heard the story about this unlikely winner years ago, and I recently read up a little more on him because I’ve been captivated by his story of perseverance ever since. As I read, I learned that the Sydney-Melbourne race wasn’t his first. He’d attempted a shorter race the year before but was unable to finish. But that didn’t stop him from trying again.
I think one of the things that inspires me the most is that Cliff Young didn’t run to win the prize. He ran to prove that he could. He didn’t compare himself to any of the younger, sponsored racers. He focused on outrunning the storm. And he never stopped running.
We must believe we’re gifted for something
Marie Curie, another hero I grew up with, once said, “Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and, above all, confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained.”
What is something you believe you’re gifted at when it comes to your writing? Something that, no matter what else you try, you keep finding yourself coming back to?
Is it creating new worlds? Is it encouraging others who are going through a similar life experience you’ve lived through? Is it equipping future leaders to be compassionate toward others as well as focused on their goal?
Whatever that thing is, are you confident enough in it that you’d risk showing up to your race in overalls and work boots, and getting right down to business? If not, what’s holding you back? Maybe it’s time to start making that storm (aka fear) work for you instead of against you.
Endure fort, my friend!
—Jen
Image by Sachu Sanjayan from Pixabay